Ian Schreiber 2010 Board Statement
Candidate Position Statement:
I have a diverse background, including programming, game design and higher education. I’ve worked on five published entertainment games and two Serious Game projects. As a professor, I’ve developed and taught dozens of classes on game development at the university level, co-authored a textbook on game design, and “shipped” hundreds of students. I presently am active in the Education SIG, the Sex and Games SIG, and the Columbus IGDA Chapter, as well as several student organizations at local universities.
The IGDA is in a time of transition. We have a new Executive Director, and new initiatives like the Members Only Webinar series and the recent announcement of lifetime memberships and group health insurance. I contributed to two new initiatives last year, the Global Game Jam and the Game Design Concepts online summer course. With the industry itself in a critical time of transition, I hope to be part of the process that makes the IGDA more relevant than ever to developers, offering an even better value for your hard-earned membership dollars.
My agenda as an IGDA board member includes:
Identifying industry-wide issues that can be addressed through new member programs and initiatives.
Increasing IGDA’s role as a voice and advocate for individual developers, not just corporate studios.
Supporting more ongoing events like the Members Only Webinars and Global Game Jam that add value to developers’ lives.
Lastly, I understand that those of you who don’t know me may be hesitant to vote for an unknown quantity at such an important time. If you have any questions about my history, my platform, or my qualifications, I welcome you to write me directly at ai864@yahoo.com, or find me on Twitter (@IanSchreiber) or Facebook.
Candidate Volunteer Credits:
- Member since 2003
- Education SIG contributor
- Sex in Games SIG forum moderator and contributor
- Columbus chapter co-coordinator
- Global Game Jam organizer
- Credit Standards Committee contributor
- IGDA MVP Award recipient (2009)
Candidate Bio:
Ian Schreiber has been a game developer for ten years, first as a programmer and then as a game designer. He has worked on seven shipped titles, including online trading-card games, console games, and even some serious games for corporate training. He is currently a freelancer based in Columbus, Ohio, and also teaches game development for several schools as an adjunct.
Board Interview Q and A:
1. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing game developers today? What should the IGDA's role be in addressing that challenge?
I think the biggest challenge in our industry is retention of talent. Our reality is often crunch time, low pay (compared to similar jobs outside the industry), and the ever-present threat of layoffs and studio closings that force most of us to look for a new job (sometimes even in a new city, unless you live in a major hub like LA). The average game developer changes to a more health-, family-, and sanity-friendly career after just 5.5 years. This is hurting the industry, as our trend towards new blood makes us reinvent the wheel and makes it harder for us to learn from our past mistakes.
What can the IGDA do about this? There are many potential areas for gain here. We already provide a forum for people to talk about these issues (with the creation of the QoL SIG some years ago), and we can take this further by encouraging more safe-and-sane practices from the studios that employ our members, and offering access to white papers and other research that gives the means to do so. We could move towards providing job-hunting services and studio directories for members. I think the recent offering of health insurance is a step in the right direction, by making developers less reliant on their present position. Lastly, in any discussions of alternate employment arrangements (such as the contract-based employment model of Hollywood, or the perennial talks of unionization), the IGDA should be front and center in those discussions, providing a starting point for industry change that benefits individual developers more than studios or publishers.
2. How do you expect to contribute to the IGDA Board? What qualifications or skills do you possess that will enhance your contributions?
My strength is in my diverse background. In the past I have been a programmer (both inside and outside the industry) and a game designer, as well as a professor. I have worked in a studio environment, and also as a freelancer. From my experience I have seen how all of these different worlds are connected, and one of my skills is finding those links that connect all of us.
3. How much time do you expect to volunteer to the IGDA? How will you manage this commitment?
I have as much spare time as anyone else - not much! However, as a freelancer, I at least have the advantage of a flexible schedule: anything that I can plan for in advance, I can fit in a time slot somewhere. In 2009 I spent a lot of time away at conferences, teaching a free online class over the summer, and contributing to this year's Global Game Jam. So I do find a way to balance my commitments, generally by shifting my schedule around as needed. Also, it helps that my wife is incredibly supportive when my schedule gets hectic (and of course I return the favor when her life gets "crunchy" as well).
4. As an IGDA board member, you're often asked to get things done on a short timeframe and tight budget. What do you think a reasonable expectation of a board member's contribution is? How will you accomplish your goals as a board member?
As an IGDA volunteer, I often have to do things on a short timeframe and no budget
. I manage.
I think an important expectation of a board member is: first do no harm. The IGDA is an organization meant to support and promote the individual developer, and should be reasonable to expect that in official statements and media appearances, that board members will be advocates for the developer community. I already do this on a local level, both within the Columbus chapter and within my classes; if I were a board member the only difference would be the size of the microphone I was speaking into.
The other expectation I would have is a show of communication and problem-solving skills. Since the IGDA is primarily a volunteer organization with a minimal budget, occasionally members ask for things that would be positive but are just not feasible given time and money constraints. Ideally, in these cases, a compromise can be reached where the overall goal can be met through different means; this takes a willingness to get to the heart of the matter and find alternate solutions. I have served this role on a development team, finding alternate game design solutions that are easier for a programmer to implement; while this is not exactly the same, I do have a mindset that approaches problems with the assumption that they can be solved.
In the few cases where nothing can be done at all, it is still important to communicate the issue and the reasons behind it. It can be frustrating to pay dues to an organization, then have one's requests or questions fall on deaf ears. While I think that I or anyone else should be able to accomplish this goal of keeping the lines of communication open, I feel it was important to acknowledge it as a goal worth pursuing.
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